Woman&#39;s hat



I. HOFMANN May 28, 1968 WOMAN'S HAT Filed Sept. 21. 1966 INVENTOR. IDA HOFMANN ATTORNE V5 United States Patent Oflice 3,384,904 Patented May 28, 1968 3,384,904 WOMANS HAT Ida Hofmann, 11 Wilshire, Rancho Trailer Park, Palm Springs, Calif. 92262 Filed Sept. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 580,917 3 Claims. (Cl. 2-198) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A womans hat formed of a blank having an annular segmental shape with fastener elements disposed at the ends of the segments to secure the ends together and fastener elements at one edge of the segment to provide a generally closed top for the hat.

This invention generally relates to head coverings, and is more particularly directed to a womans hat construction of the sport type of design.

Womens hats are generally provided in the widest possible combination of material, color and construction. Irrespective of the particular design or construction utilized in its production, a womans hat is primarily designed for wearing, and not for packing; and it is accordingly difficult for the average woman to pack any substantial number of hats in a suitcase or the like without damaging the same; or in the alternative, without taking up an appreciable amount of space. It will also be appreciated that few, if any, of such hats can be washed without deleteriously affecting its shape.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a womans hat which is capable of being folded into a flat compact condition for packing or the like, and then expanded and reformed to provide and define a generally conventionally appearing hat having substantial height and breadth.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hat of the character described which is capable of being reversed; so that, for example, opposite surfaces or sides of the hat may be of different colors or present different surface designs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hat as above defined which is extremely simple to produce and which is capable of being worn in a variety of ways.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the hat of the present invention in its flat or inoperative position.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the hat in an operative or wearing condition.

As will be readily apparent from the drawing, my hat, generally designated by the numeral 6, is.capable of being moved from the flat inoperative condition as viewed in FIGURE 1, for packing, storage or the like, to the position shown in FIGURE 2 wherein the hat has been formed into a relatively conventional shape for wearing. Aside from the benefits derived from its fiat inoperative shape, it will also become apparent that if the fabric from which the hat is constructed is washable, the entire hat may be washed and dried in ordinary household machines, and then easily restored to its operative condition.

Reference will first be had to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, wherein the actual nature of my novel hat design may be best understood. In its inoperative condition, the hat comprises a blank 7 formed of an annular segment of any flexible material, provided with an inner arcuate edge 8 and an outer arcuate edge 9. The edge 9 is substantially larger than the edge 8, and the ends 11 and 12 thus define acute angles of about 30 to 40 degrees relative to a center line 13 bisecting the blank. A curved channel 14 formed in the material in equal spaced relation to edge 9 divides the blank into what will subsequently become a brim portion 16 extending from the channel to edge 9 and a crown portion 17 extending from the channel to the edge 8. A draw string 18 is disposed in the channel, and the ends of the string extend outwardly beyond the ends 11 and 12 for a purnnse later to be explained.

Means are provided on the crown portion adjacent each end whereby the latter may be brought together and releasably secured. As here illustrated, such means are formed of complementary slide fastener elements 21, 22, element 21 being secured along end 11 and element 22 being secured along end 12.

Extending adjacent edge 8 are a plurality of additional fasteners, preferably of the snap type, a pair of male fasteners 23 being closer to the ends, and an adjacent pair of female fasteners 24 being closer to the centerline 13.

With the foregoing construction in mind, a hat is readily formed from the blank 7 by bringing the ends 11 and 12 together and engaging the elements 21 and 22 to provide a connection 26 for such ends. This produces a generally frusto-conical configuration. Next, the fasteners 23, 24 are snapped together, thus providing a generally closed top for the hat, and if desired, the upper crown portion may then be depressed, as shown at 27, thereby tending to better conceal the joint 28 where the fasteners 23 and 24 are utilized as well as the slide end 29 of the fasteners 21 and 22.

Then, a portion of the brim 16 may be turned upwardly along all or a portion of its length, adding rigidity to the structure, and the draw string 18 pulled and tied, as shown at 31 to maintain the hat in snug engagement on the head of the wearer.

It should be made clear that a wide variety of styles, other than that shown in FIGURE 2, can be produced. By way of example only, the height of the crown can be varied by creating a larger or smaller depression at the top thereof. Similarly, the brim can be made wider or narrower, and turned up to a greater or lesser extent. Consequently, my hat not only possesses the desirable features hereinbefore enumerated, but can be styled in an infinite number of variations by the wearer.

The arrangement of the various fasteners permits the hat to be reversed so that different outer and inner liners might be used to produce a contrasting effect and/or to match different color ensembles.

What is claimed is:

1. A hat comprising a relatively flat blank having a generally arc-uate inner edge and a generally arcuate outer edge with a substantially uniform radial spacing between said edges, ends interconnecting said edges and diverging from said inner edge towards said outer edge whereby said blank has the general shape of an annular segment with the radial extent of the segment being substantially at least as long as the peripheral extent of said inner edge, cooperative fastening means provided on each of said ends and extending from said inner edge to a position spaced from said outer edge, and a draw string provided on said blank with the ends of the string extending beyond the ends of said blank, said draw string being disposed on the blank with substantially all por- 3 tions thereof being in substantially equally spaced relation to said outer edge and closer to said outer edge than to said inner edge.

2. A hat as set forth in claim 1 in which said fastening means comprise slide fastener elements whose spacing from said outer edge generally coincides with the spacing of the draw string from such outer edge.

3. A hat as set forth in claim 1 in which fastener elements are provided On said blank adjacent said inner edge and adapted, upon connection of said fastening means to secure the ends together, to releasably close the inner edge portion of said blank or both sides of said ends.

4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1918 Winget 2-l92 10/1918 Thompson 2-177 XR 1/1925 Fliegel 2175 6/1942 Livingston 2174 5/1964 Brown 2175 FOREIGN PATENTS 12/1938 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

